RAM prices took to the skies in 2017, and remained airborne throughout 2018. This year, RAM prices have landed, settled down, and are considering digging an underground cave in preparation for Armageddon, and are expected to go down even further.

Changes to the Main Chart:

We are not going to take a look into how or why RAM prices are down, because talking about supply and demand is boring. Instead, we take advantage of the situation and shake up our recommendations a little, as follows:

• 8GB  is now an optional choice from the very lowest (Destitute) tier
• 8GB is the default recommendation starting from the Fair tier (previously Good, a one-tier change)
• 16GB is the default recommendation starting from the Superb tier (previously Enthusiast, a four-tier change)
• 32GB is the default recommendation starting from the Extremist tier (previously Monstrous, a one-tier change)

The above changes are concerning only the RAM size. But the prices have also affected the type/speed of RAM that we recommend. Going forward, we will switch to recommending dual channel RAM, at 3200 speeds when possible.

If the price difference between that and single channel and/or  lower speeds is too high (~$10-$15 or more), then we sometimes stick to the cheaper option. We are a lot more sensitive to prices at the low end of the chart (Destitute – Modest). At the more expensive tiers (Superb – Monstrous), a $10-$15 difference is trivial, so we will always recommend the best options there. In between Modest and Superb, we make choices on a tier-by-tier basis to keep the price-to-performance ratios optimal.

Conclusion:

None of these adjustments change the fact that 8GB of RAM is (currently) still going to be enough for the vast majority of PC tasks—these changes, facilitated by the lower prices, just give the builds more flexibility (due to the RAM quantity increases) and a bit more performance (due to the RAM type changes).

And that is all, for now…